MMK’s Mill 5000 hits millionth ton

A millionth ton of goods generated by plate mill 5000 was produced in the sheet-rolling shop No. 9 of Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (ÌÌÊ) during a night shift on September 13, 2010. The ‘anniversary’ batch of Ê60 (Õ70) metal was meant for Vyksunskiy metallurgical plant, a member of United Metallurgical Company.

Mill 5000 is the key component of MMK’s plate iron facility that also comprises an out-of-furnace processing unit and a continuous casting machine. MMK signed a contract for the delivery of the equipment with SMS-Demag, a German machine-building concern, in November 2006. The mill is used to manufacture highly profitable plate iron with the width of up to 4,850 mm and strength class up to X120; this produce comes in handy in the oil and gas industry as well as in the ship-, bridge-, and machine-building ones.

Mill 5000 has an estimated capacity of about 1.5 million tons of goods a year, including some 0.3 million tons of heat treated sheets. The components of the mill include a full set of mechanisms and from the loading devices for the heating furnaces to the cleanup machines at the storehouse. The mill’s core piece of machinery is the rolling mill with the rolling capacity of some 12,000 tons. Mill 5000 was launched in July 2009 and was greatly praised by Head of the Russian Federation Government Vladimir Putin, who was present at the opening ceremony.

Thanks to the launch of the mill project, MMK’s hot-rolled and plate iron production options have greatly increased; the enterprise can now come up with high quality goods that were manufactured in accordance with the most advanced metal forming technologies. MMK BOD Chairman Viktor Rashnikov says Mill 5000 is an essential project for both the enterprise and the entire country.

‘I am positive the mill’s produce will enjoy great demand. My optimism is based on knowing how important our fuel and energy complex is for Russia’s economy and how crucial the new oil and gas pipeline projects are for the country,’ he observes.